The Price of Immortality
by wingedsnails
Summary: People are getting killed, bodies are drained of blood, an evil force that no one thought existed has risen again, from hundreds of years before. What is it, this price for immortality?
1. The Awakening

**hey all-**

**this is my first fma fanfic, right now its in animeverse, but it could end up in mangaverse later. also, if anyone has any idea of a title, could u suggest it cuz i really don't know what to call this story, thanks! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, simple as that.**

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"Dammit Greed," a boy with blonde hair grimaced as he spotted the pile of bones on the mansion's floor, "How could you kill a defenseless old woman?"

* * *

A few hundred feet below the mansion floor; in an ancient cavern long forgotten by time, a sorceress began to awaken from a prolonged slumber. Her eyes opened, she thought words of a long forgotten language and the ice enclosing her body melted away. She turned toward a coffin, resting on a bier, and opened the lid, to reel another young woman, also enclosed in ice. 

"Alora," she whispered, her low voice echoing off the cavern walls, "Awaken."

The ice enclosing Alora melted away, and she opened her eyes. Slowly, she uncrossed her arms and stepped out of her coffin.

"Estelle," she turned to the sorceress, "Why have we awakened?"

"Honestly, I don't know," aid Estelle, "But you do know what this means?"

"Yes," Alora got a murderous look in her red eyes, "_He's _back."

* * *

On the surface, the Fullmetal Alchemist sat in the middle of a strange trasmutation circle, wondering just what this homunculus's intentions were.

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**a short little chapter, but i hoped you liked it!**


	2. Murderer in Central City

**hey all-**

**ok, so on to chapter two! right now i'm focusing on Alora and Estelle mostly, but eventually the FMA crew will meet them. I give a lot of clues in this chapter as too what Alora is, so see if you can figure it out!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA

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"Alora," said Estelle, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm gonna find him and kill him," Alora headed toward the carved stone steps leading to the surface, but Estelle stopped her.

"Alora, don't be rash, we don't even know what year we're in. Besides, it's probably going to be dangerous. _They_ could be at large, looking for us."

"Then disguise us." Alora hissed, curling her lip to show her white fangs.

"Alright already," Estelle sighed, she knew better than to upset Alora when she was angry. Estelle closed her eyes and whispered a few ancient words. In a matter of seconds, she and Alora looked completely different than before.

"Let's go," Alora said, running up the stairs. Estelle turned and grabbed a dusty book from the floor.

"Can't forget this," she said before she followed her friend up to the surface, then a thought occurred to her; "Alora, what if it's daytime outside?!" she yelled to her friend.

Estelle opened the secret trap door and stepped into bright moonlight. She sighed, that meant Alora was okay. A few yards away, Alora stood, waiting for the sorceress.

"I thought you would never make it," she said.

"Alora, that was reckless, what would have happened if you stepped out into sunlight?"

"You know what would have happened."

"And then where would you be? Then, nobody would be able to stop him!"

"Relax Estelle; I know what I'm doing,"

"That's apparent. So, what do we do now?"

"Find him,"

"But, it's almost dawn," the sorceress pointed out the faint shimmer of light over the eastern horizon.

"Fine, I'll go back, you look around and try to find out what year we're in, at least," Alora huffed.

"Alright," The two disguised girls split up, Alora heading for cover of darkness, and Estelle headed for the nearest town, wherever that was.

* * *

Roy Mustang read the latest newspaper headline; this was troubling news. This morning, a corpse had been found, and all evidence led to murder. There was already too much going on in the military without having to worry about another killer on the loose. He knew that Investigations would now be under a lot of stress trying to solve this murder, and without Hughes…. well, it would seem that Lt. Colonel Archer would have his hands full with this case.

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Alora opened the lid of her coffin as she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Estelle appeared with her ever-trusty spell book under her arm along with another paper of some sort.

"So, what did you find?" Alora asked.

"Well, I found this," Estelle handed Alora the packet of papers, "It says: Murder in Central City,"

"That's where he is," said Alora, the murderous look back in her eyes, "And that's where we'll go."

**YAY! another chapter finished, i just hope i have the locations of all the FMA crew right cuz that would kind of mess up the story line... oh well, i hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	3. Two Pinpricks

**hey all-**

**so here's the third chappie! i hope you enjoy it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own FMA**

Chapter Three

"What?" Mustang read and re-read the paper that had been sitting on his desk that morning. It told him that he, and his team when they returned to Central, was to be assisting Investigations with the apprehension of the killer at large. This killer had already murdered 3 people within the last two nights, and obviously the military didn't want any more, as other officers were also assigned to this case as well. The colonel groaned; although he did want this killer to be caught, he did not see why he had to help with it.

Reluctantly, Mustang got up and went to go find Lt. Colonel Archer. He was bound to know about this killer, and he would probably have an assignment for Mustang. Mustang frowned, to think that know he had to take orders from that….

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Estelle stood at the train station, waiting for the train to Central. Alora, unable to travel in sunlight, was safely packed in her coffin, and would be loaded with the rest of the cargo onto the train. Estelle smiled at the silliness of it all; people could be so foolish sometimes. Her thoughts wandered to earlier in the day, when she found out that she had been asleep for over 400 years, and when she had found that no one seemed to know the word "vampyre" anymore. She thought about how things had changed, no longer were horses used, but strange things called "cars" and "trains". No longer was witchcraft used, but a science called "alchemy" ruled. The word seemed so familiar to Estelle; if only she could remember where she knew it…

The train pulled up to the station, and she got her ticket ready. Making gold was easy enough for a sorceress of her ability, and selling it was even easier.

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In a car driving across the desert, a young woman with dark hair read the newspaper headline. She smiled and folded the paper.

"Well, I haven't heard anything like this since…" she began.

"Since you were in your original body?" a thin character sitting next to her asked.

"Yes… I suppose you're right, Envy. It appears we'll be heading to Central."

"But what about the Ishbalan?"

"We'll keep an eye on him, but I doubt he'll be able to do anything. Besides, this could get us closer to a Philosopher's stone."

The homunculus was confused by this; how could a simple murderer lead them to a philosopher's stone? But he dare not ask the master what her intentions were.

Dante looked out the car window, thinking about what she had just read. No injuries except for two pinpricks at the neck….


	4. False Myths and a Survivor

**Hi everybody! So its finally here- chappie four! sorry it took me so long, there's been a lot of time-consuming stuff going on lately, and i also hit a slow spot in writing this. hopefully next chappie things will get more interesting, anyways enjoy! (and if you enjoyed it, or even if you didn't, please review!!)**

**wingedsnails**

Chapter Four

"Central Station," the conductor stated as the train pulled up to the station, but Estelle didn't need anyone to tell her that this was the capital of this country. They had passed several towns and villages on the train ride, but none as big as this city…

Alora woke up just after the sun had set, and listened to her surroundings. When she only heard Estelle rummaging around, she knocked 3 times on the top of the coffin to signal that she was coming out. She easily pushed off the lid and sat up.

"Good Evening," said Estelle, "Or, its 'Good Morning' to you, isn't it?" She was in a rather cheery mood. Alora looked around; she had seemed to find a comfortable hotel room for them to stay in.

"Hope you don't mind the cheeriness too much," Estelle smiled, "But there weren't really any places dreary enough for you."

"I'll find a tomb or something later," Alora said in a sarcastic tone. Even she was pleased in the change of scenery, even if the bright electrical lights made her uneasy. Suddenly, she felt a throbbing pain in her neck, and rubbed the two pinprick scars in an attempt to stop it. Her hand met with a silver chain around her neck, and soon she held a glass vial in her hand.

"You're still wearing that?" Estelle asked, "You know the stories aren't real; a vampire can walk around without soil from their homeland."

"I know," said Alora, still examining the small bottle of dirt, "But I find it … comforting. Anyways," she stood up, "I must go feed."

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Roy Mustang stood in Frank Archer's office. He was getting more and more confused about this case. Yet another victim had been found earlier this morning, killed the same type of way; blood drained, with barely any visible injuries, only two pricks at the neck; and no blood at any scene of the crime. Which suggested that the bodies were transported to the area; Roy thought back on the case of Barry the Chopper, but knew that it couldn't be him; he was sentenced to be executed. They had no possible ideas for a motive either; the group of victims so far was as diverse as could be, with no possible connections so far. Normally, Roy and his staff wouldn't be assigned to this sort of work, but he was sort of glad they were, at least this way it might be possible to catch this guy faster. 

Roy was reading the case files (he was waiting for medical examiner's report to come in, but he honestly thought they would be as perplexed as he was) when someone came in. He saluted and addressed Archer.

"Sir, a person as just admitted into the hospital," he said.

"And?"

"Sir, the patient had lost a lot of blood, perhaps they could be the source for a potential lead?"

Archer nodded, stood up, and followed the soldier. Roy followed; glad that they might actually get some pieces of this puzzle fitted together.


End file.
